BY: Rodrick L. Williams
Every year millions of Americans jailbreak their iPhone, iPods and iPads to reap the benefits that they feel Apple restricts them from. When one jailbreaks their Apple device they strip the limits Apple places on the product which grants them access to free apps, apps not approved by Apple and unique customizable functions. With these benefits one may ask why so many people are hesitant to jailbreak their Apple device. The reason behind the skepticism in jailbreaking Apple devices is the damage that can form from the stripping of the limitations that Apple provides. These damages include, but are not limited to: the voiding of warranties, excessive use of data and security concerns.
When jailbreaking one’s Apple device the person must take note that the warranty does not cover any damaged caused by jailbreaking. Even though the vast majority of problems that occur when jailbreaking can be fixed with restoring the device, there are some problems that simply cannot and require more work that Apple will not provide. For example If one cracks their phone screen and they take it to Apple to be fixed while their phone is jailbroken, the company can refuse to fix the simple damage to the phone. In addition sometimes jailbreaking just does not work, what is one to do then? The jailbreaking system messes up something in the operating system and the person has to go out and get a whole new device. Also, jailbreaking requires a lot of data space. If the person does not have an unlimited data plan, their bill will sky rocket. This is a concern mostly for iPhone users though. Finally, there have been complaints of security breaches in which one’s personal data has been stolen off of their Apple devices. This is the reason why most people are skeptical about jailbreaking their device. Given the risks stated here, would you jailbreak your phone; why or why not?
Jail breaking a phone is not such a bad idea. It allows you to do anything thing on your phone without a problem. The only down fall is at times your phone will become slower
ReplyDeleteI recently jail broke my iPad recently and it removes Apple's restrictions and gives the user access to the file system and root. I jail broke using Redsn0w and messed up the first time so all I had to do was reboot and try again. I'd recommend redsn0w for anyone wanting to Jailbreak. The advantages are it allowed my iPad to become more customizable, free themes, free apps that didn't pass the Apple quality test, and useful apps for accessories. Even though my iPad to become more customizable it does have a few disadvantages such as the possibility of small lag, potential viruses, some false apps, and it disables AutoCorrect.
ReplyDeleteI've had my phone jail broken for close to a year now and it gives you the freedom to do so much more with your device. At times it does become a little slower, as both of of you have said. In my experience I've used Absinthe to jail break my device, but have heard good things from Redsn0w as well. So as we discussed in class there are risk and reward associated with the jail breaking.
ReplyDeleteDespite the benefits of jailbreaking one's phone I dont think people should do it especially if your carrier offers the iPhone. I think jailbreaking one's phone is only beneficial if one does not have phone service from Sprint, ATT and Verizon for if the ohone breaks they cant get it fixed anyway because their only means to use the phone is to jail break it; therefore they have nothing to lose. I personally have an iPhone and I'd rather keep it in its original state to use the benefits of Apple Care/ Insurance than jailbreak it and have themes that I really dont care about having. I guess I'm not that savy with the iPhone or infatuated with it's capabilites.
ReplyDeleteJailbreaking to me is only worth it if your phone is either out of warranty or needs to be unlocked. I've seen so many phones bricked due to jailbreaking it just doesn't make much sense to risk damaging a $700 phone for a few good free apps. At the Apple store whenever someone brings in a jail broken phone with issues, I feel bad because at that point I know there's nothing that can be done to help them unless they restore the entire phone which sometime doesn't work. It's a free world and people can do what they want with their products but sometimes the risk just isn't worth the reward.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that jail breaking an apple product prevents a person from being able to update their apple software after the phone has been cracked. For example if their is an update on the operating system for the phone, one won't be able to get the updated product. I personally think that the consequences of a jail broken phone out way the potential benefits.
ReplyDeletePrior to my iPhone, I was reckless with my phones and always seemed to find a way to drop and crack my phones. When considering the jailbreak of my iPhone, the thought of my past clumsiness, and the fact that Apple doesn't repair jailbroken phones came into account. It's about the person. I never take my cushion case off of my phone but some people have had iPhones with no cases and gone the entire year without damaging or dropping it. If the person doesn't believe they'll need to use that warranty, there are really no cons to jailbreaking. I know with my luck, as soon as I jailbreak my phone, I'll probably drop it and won't have the warranty to cover repair.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of jail breaking phones because you have the ability to individualize your phone as anyway as you want to. Although your right that the warranty is void, but if you restore all settings before taking your device back to the store then they can not tell. I've jail broken all my previous iphones.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of jailbreaking my phone for all the positives you mention - but I can't get past the security liability I'd be exposing myself to. My main reason for buying Apple products is that I don't need to customize the interface as my activity isn't that complex, but for those who feel they might want the customization of an Android or Windows device it's good to see there is a market for products to provide that capability.
ReplyDeleteI've had my old iPhone jailbroken for a while and loved it. Aside from a crash every now and then I didn't have any problems with it. Access to thousands of apps for free can be very tempting, however my iPhone hasn't been jailbroken for the past two years because I rarely used any of the apps. For anyone considering jailbreaking their iPhone I would say go for it.
ReplyDeleteIve always stayed away from jail breaking phone to avoid mre expensive problems. Most friend I have that have done this experienced a ton of ever lasting problems. For example, phone crashing, restarting, not functioning properly, internet problems and more. I always say use the phone for that and who it was made for.
ReplyDeleteI've had a iphone jailbroken in the past ut due to the new update I restored to factory setting to use the new software. I didn't run into any problems at all however, I didn't use the jailbrake to its full capabilities. I defenitely say go for the jailbreak if you are intrested and and are going to use to its full capacity. If you do since issues restore it then and there to prevent further issues.
ReplyDeleteWell I am glad I read this post. Now I do not know if I want to jailbreak my phone or not. I have warranty for a reason and I would hate for them not to fix my phone because it is jailbroken. So now I will probably start telling people not to jailbreak there phone because it comes with to many risks.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you want to jailbreak your phone you should. The reward is far greater than the risk. The greatest concern is probably cracking your phone screen. However, there are a plethora of cases that are widely available to keep this risk at a low rate. Jailbreaking gives you freedom, so I say go for it.
ReplyDeleteI think jail breaking would be a bad idea because of the information that's being changed. Its too much info and files that have to be switch in which most or all get deleted in the process. Jail breaking benefits those who want a different carrier but it has its limits.
ReplyDeleteI read online that apple is making anti jailbreak software for each new update and that it is collecting info from the jailbroken devices about the programs used to do it so they can put in code in the new updates to prevent further jailbreaks.
ReplyDeleteI believe there are risk and rewards when it come to jail breaking ones apple products. My opinion there is more risk. knowing that apple has the right to deny service when there product is jail broken is enough risk for me.
ReplyDeleteJail breaking is cool. I just don't want to mess up my iphone in the long run. Also it is true that hackers can obtain your documents from a jail broken iphone.
ReplyDeleteIve had my apple products jailbroken before and I love it. If you are worried about the issues just backup our phone prior to jailbreaking it and then if anything should go wrong you can just restore it back to the factory settings and then to your most recent backup.
ReplyDeleteI dont think jailbreaking a phone is a bad idea because it allows you to do soo much more on your phone that you normally cant do.
ReplyDeleteI have never personally jail broken any phone or device Ive ever owned. However, i dont see anything wrong with it, i actually enjoy many of the features that it allows you to access. While I don't think it is wrong to jail break your phone, I feel as though the restrictions were set on the phone for a specific reason.
ReplyDeleteA jailbroken iPhone >>>>> Non-jailbroken iPhone. Jailbreaking allows one to bypass the strict limitations that Apple has implemented within the iPhone. A jailbroken iPhone fully takes advantage of all the technological capabilities of the hardware. Developers within the jailbreak community are always creating new tweaks to fully customizes one's iPhone. Having experienced both, the customization from jailbreaking far succeeds the risks involved with it.
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that you have open access to apps, your phone is now open to all kinds of virus/spyware. As someone who works at Apple, Ive seen people with perfectly working jailbroken phones that all of a sudden, stopped working. And no replacement for that, $650 to get a new one instead of the $199 you paid when starting your account. BEWARE.
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